Sadly I couldn't find any art earlier than 2005. (please don't laugh that I was 21 and still drawing like a douche. XD Today's teens are like 5 billion times more advanced.) Before 2002 I was exclusively drawing traditionally, usually with pencils and inks only. So this is sort of my entire digital art timeline I suppose.

I also have to mention that in 2007, I met `Endling and since then my improvement has been much more focused. We spend a lot of time discussing art on a daily basis, which helps a lot.

One of these days I'll show you all some art from when I was 12. :'D ...ahaha...

Also, there wasn't enough space for more text, but in 2010 I started work for Tokyopop and 2011 published three books with them (two of them were updated versions of the old books). Thankfully that has been more successful than my earlier attempts.

Original meme is here: [link]Sorry for typos, but I kinda put this together during work... >m>;

this give me inspiration don't feel bad or thing that u are late. I may too found my passion just 2 years ago when i met my friend who have passion in arts. and im 20 now.. most of a time i'm thinking if it was too late to start and draw. and whenever i saw any great art here, half part of me become insecure on things that i can do and criticized myself, i down myself.. but the other half of me think that i can do like what they can, someday i will.its just a matter of age. it will never limit your passion.

hihi still i dont have self confidence. but can i ask question? do you think i can be a great artist?

I think anybody can be great at lots of things, if they put time and effort into it. As you can see yourself, I got the internet late and had no means of learning freely until then.so it really depends on how you handle the info and resources available to you.

Wow. ;.; You were way better at 20 then I am righht now(I'm 20)... I constantly feel like I'm not good enough with my art, which has kept me from releasing two graphic novels I want to release. I always feel like I'm not good enough to make them. :/ Are there any specific ways you got better with your backgrounds?

hmm, first of all, age means nothing, so go at your own pace and don't let others intimidate you. C:Also, for backgrounds, I did a lot of research actually... looking at great photos or skilled environment artists. Also, le-mec was so kind to give me super useful advice on basics and critiqued some of my early attempts. After that, it was mostly practice. (Still not as good as I like, but getting a feel for it!)

not a problem. :> I try to do my best since I remember what it was like trying to figure everything out by myself. sharing knowledge is very important to me. (even if I take forever with the message amounts. XD ...)

Thank you so much! Btw, I'll be commissioning you soon. Just gotta transfer the amount to my paypal now. Is it okay if I change the two characters I had initially asked for? Of course, I'd give more details in notes. xD

And you're better at 20 than I was at 25 (I'm 35 now) so don't sweat it. Also Zombiesmile has way surpassed me in terms of output and commercial success. I had to quit video games in December and get serious.

I have a very methodical approach to drawing - For a while I was obsessed with draughtsmanship and architecture study and engineering -- very technical fields of drawing! I treat drawing like a sort of perspective illusion and try to draw INTO the page rather than ON the page. Artists like Julian Beever (who makes very cool sidewalk chalk illusions) were a major inspiration for me. I learned ways to draw that made better use of my natural perceptions and worked to extend perspective from the real world outside the canvas INTO the canvas.

And I also started to take interest in environments as places where people lived, where they would make a mess and work and live and play. The things we wear, the things we never leave home without, our homes and our rooms are all artifacts of our lives. I think the biggest problem when approaching non-character art is that we have evolved to ignore all the small details, but we have to train ourselves to become observant and open!

That concept of drawing into the image is fantastic. I have never thought of it that way, even when trying to do perspective work. I blame much of my shortcomings in art on the two years that I barely drew anything and, now that I have a 4 month old, it's much harder to find the time to, especially while he's been teething(he won't nap longer than 15 minutes). :/

I've been working on a piece the past week that's just my character, Naia, and I noticed that I always crop an image to include just the character, and not really leave much space for a background. I tend to get very discouraged with them before I even start them.

I went through a long period of stop/start with drawing and wasn't getting anywhere even though I had been doing life drawing studies for about 3 years --

and then I fell into a deep depression. I felt like I still hadn't gotten the basics down and at that point I gave up on drawing anything but the most simple things.

I would practice drawing freehanded straight lines and try to find the most accurate and easy way to draw those lines as long and straight as possible. I worked out different handgrips and turned it into a sort of sport, like darth throwing.

I would practice drawing series of cubes (the SAME cube, actually) but rotating it one axis at a time, in small, regular increments. Or, I'd draw chains of cubes end-to-end like roller coasters that would go looping in big graceful arcs towards and away from the vantage point.

It turned out that the simple exercises that seemed to be something that you'd scoff at were in truth, very difficult to do well, and comfortably, and to this day I still start every drawing session with similar exercises. I keep finding various ways to do these simple things, but the thing is, these simple goals are easy to accomplish, and I don't feel depressed when I mess one up.

I feel like a lot of budding artists try to take on drawing massive illustrations and beat themselves up when they don't turn out as they imagined them - but I always take my drawings, no matter how massive or complex and break them down into very small, little tasks that are similar to the exercises that I practice, and I can feel good with every little bit that I do well.

"Today's teens are like 5 billion times more advanced.) Before 2002 I was exclusively drawing traditionally, usually with pencils and inks only. So this is sort of my entire digital art timeline I suppose"

I do every art related job that is offered to me, mostly. (only the ones paid appropriately though) So by now I have dabbled in all sorts of areas. Game art, covers, CD covers, comics, pencils, inks, colouring, spriting.

This really helped me to read this, because personally, I'm 20, an art student, and feel like I should already be incredibly talented/successfull/knowing where I'm going. It's nice to be reminded that art is, and always will be a learning process, and that I should't expect myself to be proficeint at everything right away. Like you were previously, I find myself stuck on background and landscapes a lot, and I though that this was a major downfall for me as an artist. It's nice to know that others have struggled with the same kinds of things. Thanks for this!

Personally, I felt that this meme was very inspirational. I started drawing about a year ago when I was 18 and sometimes I get this erroneous idea that it is impossible to get as good as professional artists because I started so late in the game. I read some BS articles about as you age it will be impossible to achieve certain skills because you won't have enough neuroplasticity and whatnot. Anyways, your experience with art proved otherwise. Thanks for sharing!

You're not late, I'm late. I'm *cough*29+1*cough*, just now getting back into it and I still draw (like a douche) where I left off in highschool. Which is not very good. Keep going and use the encouragement from DA to keep the fuel burning!

I am glad it inspires you. I also hear this way too often and see younger people getting depressed from the pressure of being brilliant early on. I think it's rather unhealthy. Everyone matures and learns at their own pace I find. Success comes eventually, if you work hard and work well, I think. :3

It is so inspiring that your main achievements were after your twenties. I am 19 now and sometimes I thought maybe it's too late trying to reach something high when teenagers around me are so much better already, but now I know I shouldn't give up! I hope one day I will be able to live off art too I really wish I could start making my own comic, even thought in my country I don't think there are any published, but maybe I will make a revolution

Oh god, I feel exactly the same thing! everytime I see one of those memes, artists are fifteen, sixteen maybe, and I'm like "why bother? I'm already twenty it's too late to improve". I really hope that one day you'll be able to live off art! good luck!!!

I find the teen-genius hype rather strange myself. most successful artists are in their thirties or fourties. people shouldn't feel pressured to be amazing in their teens. it's very unrealistic... :Cbut yes, you do your thing! and if it doesn't exist in your country now, time to make a change. ;3 (with the help of the internet, a lot more is possible nowadays!)

hmm, it was a long hard road, so it's hard to say what influenced it exactly. my presence on DA helped a lot. people just started approaching me more and more with work. being published was one of the results, which again helped me get other jobs. XD it's an endless cycle, but it took many years to get there.